NCR vs. CATHOLIC CHURCH

Catalyst May Issue 2012

It’s official: the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) rejects Church teachings. A recent editorial, “NCR Endorses Call for a New Sexual Ethic,” supported retired Australian Bishop Geoffrey Robinson’s plea for the Church to change its teachings on sexuality.

Bishop Robinson wrote a book a few years ago called Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church. Here is what the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said about it in 2010: “Catholics believe that the Church, founded by Christ, is endowed by him with a teaching office which endures through time. This is why the Church’s Magisterium teaches the truth authoritatively in the name of Christ. The book casts doubt upon these teachings. This leads in turn to the questioning of Catholic teaching on, among other things, the nature of Tradition, the inspiration of the Holy Scripture, the infallibility of the Councils and the Pope, the authority of the Creeds, the nature of the ministerial priesthood and central elements of the Church’s moral teachings.”

Ten years ago, Bill Donohue said on “Hardball” that neither NCR writer Tom Roberts (now NCR’s editor-at-large), nor his paper, “believe in anything the Catholic Church says on sexuality” (Roberts was on the show with him). As Donohue went on, guest host Mike Barnicle jumped in, saying, “Wait, Bill, please. Tom, take it up. I mean, you just got whacked across the face.” Roberts replied, “I’m not going to take that up.”

Need further proof? The March 30-April 12 edition of NCR had a full-page ad by the pro-abortion anti-Catholic group, Catholics for Choice (CFC). It wouldn’t accept a dime from a racist group (nor should it), but it had no problem cashing a check from CFC. It’s time the newspaper changed its name to the National Reporter.